The Mysterious Hero
by Nightspirit152
Summary: Izuku Midoriya. A quirkless child who only wants to be a hero. What happens when he receives the power to achieve his goals from an unlikely person? Watch his struggles as he strives to become a hero, even if this new form of power leads to him treading down a darker path. (Izuku with the powers of V from DMC 5)


**Chapter One: Two Wanderers Become One**

It was a cold day, and a lad with unkempt white hair and eight freckles spread across his cheeks could be seen. He was only seven and on the streets, sickly and in desperate need of help, but unlike most in his situation, he would refuse it. The boy was not in the greatest state of mind. His week had crushed any will he had to live. His dreams shattered, friends vanished, and the love of his own parents? Extinguished.

How you may ask, has this child so young lose so much? Well that all could be explained by one simple reason. He had not manifested a quirk, a unique power almost every human in the world got at the age of four. It was like you became labeled as crippled if you didn't have one.

This child was one of those few unlucky individuals not blessed with such a gift.

When he was four, he had been taken to the doctors to see why if he would manifest his own power. He had dreamed of having telekinesis, the ability to breath fire, or if he was really lucky a combination of both in the form of pyrokinesis.

But those hopes died as soon as he learned he had an extra joint in his pinky toe. The factor that decided who was worth anything.

Ever since that day, the once enthused child had grown bitter and jaded. His closest 'friend' and many others had made their disdain for him had caused his hatred for those with quirk.

It was also why the snow-haired boy wondered the frigid late autumn streets in nothing more than a tee shirt and shorts. Waiting for the release of a painless death to get away from all the pain and suffering.

His legs finally gave out and collapsed in a small pile that had started to form. He laid in the snow, his eyes lacking resolve and fire. 'Finally…' the boy's vision blurred as a figure in black was walking towards him.

**An unknown amount of time later…**

The white-haired enigma began to stir and slowly opened his eyes to an unfamiliar surrounding.

He was on a worn mattress, with several torn blanket covering his body. Where ever he was, it was old and in a state of deterioration. Walls were covered with cracks, holes, and mold. The floor was damp and filthy, a carpet soaking up most of the moist floor liquids, and the area was being lit by a small barrel fire and a few candles.

"Aw, you're finally awake I see," the new voice caught his attention.

Sitting on an old wooden crate was a man, who looked to be in his twenties, staring at him. His attire consisted of an old black winter coat that was missing a few buttons that were left completely open, showing off his scrawny physique and tattoos that covered a majority of his torso, black jeans and surprisingly sandals. He was holding a small book with gold markings with the letter V on it and on the ground near him was a white cane. His hair was long and black and his eyes were green. The most notable and concerning feature were the cracks that laced his skin as if he were made of porcelain.

"You must be hungry," The man looked to his side and pulled out a small package. "I know it's not much, and definitely not the greatest of comfort foods to give someone who has hypothermia,"

The young boy caught the package, which was a packet of salted crackers, and looked back at the man with narrow eyes.

The man looked merely amused, "It's not very nice to stare, and also very rude for one to glare at the one who saved their life," his eyes drifted back towards the book.

"Why did you save me?" the freckled kid turned to face his 'savior'

"Because I could," the man replied.

"I didn't ask for your help and I didn't want it either,"

"Too bad. I didn't want to add letting a child died to the list of things I'd regret in life,"

The two sat in silence for a while. The elder continuing to read his book and the younger trying to figure out why life hated him. Much to the boy's annoyance, his stomach rumbled and he decided to open up the crackers. They were dry and a tad stale, but they were welcomed into his stomach.

"Glad you decide to eat up," the man closed his book, giving his full attention to the one in front of him.

"I still don't know why you bothered," wiping crumbs off his mouth as he let out a yawn.

"As I said, it doesn't sit well in my conscience knowing I let a kid freeze to death,"

They sat a while longer, only the crackling of the open fire made any noise as the two gazed at each other. Clearing his throat, the younger of the two males struck up the conversation again.

"What's your name?"

"I have no name, for I am but two days old…" this got the kid to glare at the man in response, "Just kidding. You can call me Victor Shokan."

The child tilted his head in confusion, "That's a foreign name, but you look like you're from around here,"

"My mother was from Europe, but my father was from Japan," it was a simple explanation. "My turn, what's your name kid?"

The boy's eyes hardened as if the man had asked an offensive question.

"My former name was Izuku Mi-, eh, just Izuku," He didn't want the man to call his parents, or more likely go out and look for them.

"Well, well little Izuku. What brings such an infant to this neck of the woods?" He had noticed that the freckled boy intentionally left out his last name. "And what do you mean by formerly Izuku?"

"I don't wanna use a name given to me by people who don't love me," he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Ah, a family quarrel. I'm sure if you just go back it can be resolved-" Victor was cut off immediately.

"It's not just them! It's everyone in this society! Just because of some dumb law of nature that handicaps twenty percent of all humanity!" Izuku yelled out, tears threatening to escape his eyes.

The young adult stared wide-eyed at the white-haired child before gaining his composure. "The hours of folly are measured by the clock, but of wisdom, no clock can measure,"

"Huh?" the child gave a blank stare

"Uh, never mind," The man shook his head, forgetting he was talking to a seven-year-old boy, " I understand your predicament now. You are quirkless and have been discriminated for a majority of your life for it, haven't you?"

Izuku's head dropped his silence the only thing Victor needed to confirm he was right. "You know, not having a quirk should never have caused a child to be this depressed. Unless of course your greatest ambition in life has been shattered."

"I-I wanted to be a hero. To save people with a fearless smile," the young boy smiled a bit, sharing his dream once more before his expression became sour, "But only those with a quirk can become a hero,"

Victor began to laugh, which got Izuku angry, 'I knew it. He's just like the rest, he thinks it's impossible for-'

"My what fools, It takes more than a flashy ability and colorful underwear to be considered a hero," The tattooed man wiped a tear from his laughing fit but began to cough vigorously, some new cracks were forming on his skin.

The seven-year-old was shocked, one because this man was defending his dream and two because he was cracking as if he were a glass cup in an opera house.

Seconds after his coughing had begun, black dust was coming off of Victor, forming a rather large bird, "Whoa, calm yourself, Shakespeare. I know this kid is a hoot, but can't have you go dying on us yet," It flew off in the next room.

"Was that your quirk?"

"That was part of it, yes," his hand came up to block another brigade of coughs. "My quirk is quite complicated."

"You wouldn't mind explaining how it works?" Even though Izuku envied, and in some cases loathed those with quirks, he still loved to learn about knew quirks and how they worked.

The man let out a small chuckle and cleared his throat, "No, it's no problem. My quirk is called Demon Keeper. It lets me summon familiars from the tattoo's on my body and they can fight for me, or help me with some tasks. The main drawback is that it takes a lot of focus to maintain more than one of them and it leaves me physically weaker than most other people. I can barely lift eighteen kilograms."

"Is that why your skin looks like it's made of broken glass?"

"That is why it appears the way it does, but for the reason why...It's a different cause," Victor groaned as he heard the flapping of wings.

"Here you go, Victor. It's not much, but it should calm down the little cold you've caught," the dark blue bird, with a scar over one of its eyes, came back with a bottle of pills. His summoner uncapped the bottle and downed a couple of pills. The fowl dissipated back to into the man's cracked skin.

"Well, it is quite late. We'll talk more about your current predicament in the." He moved his crate closer towards the left wall of the room leaning back onto it, "You should rest up," Victor's book immediately came back out as he tried to relax his body.

Izuku looked at the enigma of a man went back to reading. Was he really going to be okay? He looked like he was on the verge of death! Should he have even been worried for this stranger? He only had a ten-minute conversation with him. He even presented the threat of taking him to the police or an orphanage in best case scenario. He shuddered at the more darker thoughts that entered his mind.

No, If he was gonna try anything he would have done it by now. He also saved his life, strangely. If anyone was going to save him he thought it would have been a hero, but that was unlikely because he walked around a pretty empty part of town.

The young boy started to drift off with his thoughts about the man who helped him out floating around in his head.

**Morning…**

Victor yawned as he was rubbing his tired eyes. He had fallen asleep sitting against the wall, so he felt stiff and sore. "Last time I fall asleep reading…" he had muttered out, but he knew that was an empty promise.

The young man's gaze fell upon the child he had saved last night. The boy was struggling a bit in his sleep, most likely having a nightmare.

It was a troubling thought knowing the boy's reason for running away. Being quirkless was not an easy thing in this day and age. Most were treated as second class citizens, and his ambition to be a hero surely didn't help him be seen as anything other than a joke. His coughing returned, pulling him away from his thoughts about Izuku.

'I don't have much time left,' he raised his deteriorating hand towards his face, some dust falling off of it. He then stared at the boy. 'He desires power….but would it be right to give it to him?' He shook his head, 'I really shouldn't.'

The freckled boy shot up, cold sweat dripping down his face and his eyes having a glossy coating. He took in his surroundings as he rubbed his eyes, "So last night wasn't a dream…" he muttered

"No, it wasn't," Victor spoke up as he stood and walked towards the child. "And you should go home. Your parents must be worried sick."

"I don't want to, not yet anyway," Izuku said sharply.

"Look, kid, as much as I would like to help you with your emotional issues and provide you a safe haven, I am in no condition to care for you. Much less myself." He rolled up his sleeve for emphasis, his arm looking incredibly feeble and riddled with damaged skin.

"I-I understand, but right now my problems don't matter. You are obviously hurt, can't you go to a hospital or get some kind of medicine to cure whatever is causing your body to die?" Worry was laced in the boy's voice.

Victor was not surprised by the child's response. Ever since he learned Izuku wanted to be a hero, he had figured the kid had a hero complex. "There is nothing that can be done for me, just go home and forget I exist." 'I would rather you not care so much for the likes of me….' the sickly man added in his head.

"Well, I'm not leaving your side. You need all the help you can get," Determination burned within the freckled lad's eyes, 'A hero wouldn't leave someone to die,'

"Just go!" Victor yelled out, heavy breathing filling the silence for a minute. "There is truly nothing that can be done for me. If you want to help me just make sure I didn't save your life for nothing," He picked up his cane and directed it towards the hallway, "Through the hall and into the living room, the exit should be towards your left."

Izuku wanted to stay and help, but couldn't argue with the man's logic. What could a quirkless seven-year-old child do to help anyway? He couldn't heal the man, and it's not like he knew where any hospitals were either. He also highly doubted the guy would even except help at this point.

The white-haired boy began to exit the rundown apartment, looking back for a brief moment, then left the decaying man to his own thoughts. After he was out the door Victor picked up the book he had left by the wall, took a seat and started to read aloud, "Can I see another's woe, and not sorrow too? Can I not see another's grief and not seek for kind relief?"

"You sure it was smart to just let the kid go off alone?" The midnight-blue bird spoke its mind as it materialized, "I mean, I get that you're not in the best of shape to chaperone the brat, but…"

The demon keeper cleared his throat, "I never planned to let him wonder alone. The boy seems to have a small hero complex, despite is initial nature, and is also in a depressed mindset. I planned to follow him from afar."

"You know, you never cared about anyone this much before. You always put your own goals ahead of anyone and everything. This tin man finally find a heart?"

"I've merely realized how empty my life has become. I abandoned everything just for an empty promise of power and wealth, but look at where that got me. No friends, family, not even a, a place to truly call home…" Victor walked towards the window, unlatched it and then jumped out, Griffon grabbing onto his arm and gliding them toward the ground twenty feet away from the boy who had made his way out minutes prior. "That's why I'll help this child. I want to atone for my sins."

**With Midoriya…**

The lone boy was walking the empty early morning streets. He was still concerned about the man who had saved his life. That man was the first to not laugh at his dream, but to laugh at those who thought he couldn't become a hero. He began to think back to what Victor had said, about returning home.

"There's no point in trying to run away again. If I want to honor what Mr. Shokan has done for me, I at least need to be prepared to survive…" He paused and let out a breath, 'This is stupid, I've just run away because I couldn't accept reality for what it was,'

The boy shoved his hands into his pockets, re-evaluating his recent choices. It was pathetic really. Throwing a fit, just because he couldn't be like everyone else? Even though he was only seven, he still looked back on it as childish.

'I've still got mom. Even if she doesn't believe in my dream, and dad left because of my condition, I still have her to worry about.' It was true, the pity of his mother was what made his life somewhat easier. He distanced himself after his father left a while back, but at least his mother gave a fraction of a damn. She wouldn't interact with him often and began stress eating, but that was mainly due to the jaded behavior he had picked up.

"I should apologize to her, it's not like it's her fault all this had happened,"

"Flesh…"

Chills were sent down Izuku's spine. He was caught off guard when he heard the ominous, and almost desperate plea, for flesh. He was passing by an alleyway, and down it, a relatively tall man was standing there. His appearance was absolutely unnerving. Things like his clothes had looked worn and ragged, and covered in a dark red substance in various areas. His hair was pitch black and messy, looking like a rat's nest. Among other things also looked slightly malnourished, his arms and face looking like skin and bone. But what was most terrifying was his expression and the fierce intensity of his eyes. They were bloodshot and his pupils shaking violently. He was clenching his head with both of his hands to either side shaking it as if he were having a migraine. Lastly is teeth were tinted with red, an unsettling factor when you thought about what he had said moments prior.

"It's an innocent child...but pretty flesh...No, can't do that!" the man was crazy as well, not a great contribution to the list of already bad vibes Izuku felt. The young boy was about to run away, but the insane individual lunge at him. His shoulders were grasped as he was yanked back into the ally and shoved against the wall of a building.

"I-I'm sorry...Flesh too alluring...I want it, no NEED it!"

The young boy looked in horror, as his captor's teeth began to stretch out in odd angles, impaling into various parts of his body slowly. He cried out in pain as his skin was slowly being peeled away by this man's quirk.

Was this how he was going to die? A painful death at the hands of a mad man, an awful way to go. Tears were welling up in his eyes, 'I-I can't do anything…' He couldn't even think through all of the pain he was enduring, letting out another cry of pain.

"Your flesh will be...delicious," The man was to tear off some of his flesh off of his arm when suddenly, a large black shape jumped at him with an animalistic growl cut him off, pushing him back into the ally. Izuku slide down the wall surprised, and to a glaze at what had saved him. It appeared to be a panther, but it had the ability to shapeshift, it was using its enlarged front paws to bat at the killer.

"Child!" The snowy-haired boy whipped his head from the fight to the new voice. It was Mr. Shokan running alongside his bird familiar. "This is bad. Griffon deal with this pest as I treat the boy's wounds," He began to pull out some gauze, wrapping it around his arm as the bird flew off to assist the panther.

"Why'd you come?! Your in no condition to be running about!"

"Shut up. You're in no condition to worry about others!"

"You! Interfered...Won't forgive you!" both of the sane individuals looked towards the scene, the killer looked pissed as he held Griffon by the throat and the panther was nowhere to be found. He crushed the snarky bird's throat in his hand, turning him into dust and retreating to his master's tattoos. What was weird though, was the fact that the mad man had taken on a white and purple hue.

He lunged at Victor, sinking his teeth into his shoulder blade. The ill man yelled out as he shoved his cane's end through his attacker's chest, the attack ceased. A moment of no movement or sound felt like an eternity. The insane man's jaw unclenched from his shoulder, as he began to fall back fading into white particles.

Shokan breathed heavily, his hand to his injury. "That was...Problematic,"

He looked over to the boy and started to finish up bandaging the, now possibly traumatized, child, using up the last of his gauze.

"Don't waste this on me! My injuries are shallow, you need it more!"

Victor stayed silent.

"Please! I can't live knowing I caused so much harm to someone!"

The tattooed man looked as if he were to protest to the boy's false assumption about being the cause to his pain, but was silenced before could even utter a word by a coughing fit as he collapsed to the ground. It was even worse than the previous as he began to spit up some blood. After a minute he regained his composure, annoyance and anguish graced his features.

"I have even less time than I thought," his breathing was heavy and vision was starting to blur. Flakes of skin were also falling off of his body. "Izuku, you said you wanted to be a hero? *Cough* Well it's your lucky day. I can grant you the power you need…"

"Uh, w-what do you mean Mr. Shokan? You're talking crazy, you've lost to much blood!" Izuku looked at the two.

"One of my quirks abilities is the power to transfer my summons to a person of my choosing. Grab my cane…"

Izuku's eyes widen upon realizing the possible implication that cane would be used for, "NO! I-I can call for help!" He was about to run off before Victor grabbed his shoulder.

"I've repeated myself too many times child. It is too late for me." He picked up his cane from the ground and placed it into Izuku's free hand, "This is my last request."

He couldn't handle it. He just couldn't. The man who had just saved his life was not only supposedly going to give him a quirk, but he was going to have to kill the same man?

"Why?! Why do I have to kill you?!"

"It's the only way to *Cough* transfer my power," Victor placed both hands on the young lad's shoulders, "Izuku…"

Tears welled up in the boy's eyes. He stayed silent and let the man continue. "Fate is often a very challenging aspect of life. It can create despair and tension within lives, but I believe it creates opportunities," Victor coughed a little, "That is what I'm giving you. Not sadness, but an opportunity...Because I believe you can become a hero,"

Izuku was bawling. He had barely known the man for a day, hell barely a full morning, and he was already his hero in more ways than one.

"I won't lie, I've done terrible and selfish things with this power. But please, redeem it for me. Help me atone for my sins. That is what I want you to do for me, make this quirk one that is heroic…"

The snow-haired child could only nod.

Victor brought Izuku into a closer embrace, "Thank you. Now stab the cane throw my back and into your chest,"

The boy did as he was told, shakily bring the cane behind Shokan with both hands ready to plunge the cane into the both of them, "T-thank y-you, Mr. Shokan. F-for everything,"

"I didn't do much of anything child. Just make sure you achieve your dreams,"

The cane was then thrust into the both of them, no pain was felt by either as Victor started to decay turning into black dust, flowing onto Izuku's body quickly forming tattoos and dying his hair into a jet black hue. The boy pulled the cane from his chest as he sat on his knees, tears falling down his face, yelling from the emotional heartache.

He had just ended the life of another human.

**A/N:**

**Well Damn. I never thought I'd get through this. There are a few things I want to clear up about this story. First off, this definitely won't be worked on in a scheduled fashion. This is mainly a side project I'll work on from time to time if I have a writer's block with HMC. So don't expect frequent updates if you do so happen to like this. Secondly, I don't know where exactly I want this plot to go. This is like a pilot really, so any ideas from you guys would be helpful. Lastly, if you're interested in the idea I've set up, but don't like the way I've executed it, please I implore you to either spread the idea of Izuku having V's power's around or even write your own interpretation. It would be awesome to see what you amazing people come up with. Plus I want to see more love for V and the Devil May Cry community in general. I'm pretty much just saying write epic V fanfiction at this point, aren't I? Well, anyways I hope you all enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading.**


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